DN MONDAY, APRIL 6, 2015
THE DAILY NEWS
BALLSTATEDAILY.COM
COMPLEXITIES OF REPORTING DN PHOTO BREANNA DAUGHERTY
The Office of Victim Services is currently participating in The Teal Ribbon Campaign. The teal ribbon is a symbol of awareness and prevention of sexual assault.
SEXUAL ASSAULT Ball State numbers double even with underreporting
I
KARA BERG CHIEF REPORTER
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knberg2@bsu.edu
f a person commits sexual assault on Ball State’s campus, they are not likely to ever sit AWARENESS behind bars. That’s because when the Editor’s Note: This is university — any university — the first story in a fourpart series on campus investigates a sexual assault, it sexual assault for Ball is considered a policy violation State’s sexual assault awareness week. and not a criminal matter, as it would be if reported to a law enforcement agency. Even when someone reports sexual assault only to the university, the most common punishment is a suspension, according to documents obtained through an email from Joan Todd, university spokesperson.
SEXUAL
ASSAULT
In 2013, the number of sexual assaults reported to Ball State almost doubled from the previous year, according to figures the university is required to report to the U.S. Department of Education. Ball State has the second-highest sexual assault numbers out of the 12 universities in the MAC, behind Miami University, with 18 total reported cases in 2013. Title IX Coordinator for Student Affairs Katie Slabaugh attributes this increased number to improved reporting. But this number is only a fraction of the actual sexual assaults that occur on campus each year. An estimated 68 percent of sexual assaults go unreported, according to
the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network, and the perpetrators never receive any kind of punishment. A U.S. Department of Justice study said the top reason people don’t report sexual assaults is because it was a personal matter, but others didn’t report because of a fear of reprisal, because they didn’t think it was important enough or because they didn’t think the police could do anything about it. Compared to all other age groups, college-aged women are four times more likely to be sexually assaulted, according to the Rape, Abuse and Incest National Network.
See REPORTING, page 3
THE PROTOCOL FOR REPORTING SEXUAL ASSAULT
Ball State and Indiana police departments have different methods of sexual assault investigation DN GRAPHIC ERIKA ESPINOZA, KARA BERG AND STEPHANIE REDDING
There are three possible ways to report a sexual assault in Muncie: the Muncie Police Department, Ball State University Police Department or Ball State University itself. MPD and UPD can charge people for a crime, while the university can only find students responsible for a sexual misconduct policy violation.
PHOTO COURTESY OF TWITTER
Trey Moses, a Ball State men’s basketball signee, met Ellie Meredith at Eastern High School in Kentucky through a peer tutoring program and spends gym class with her. Moses presented the poster board to Ellie in front of their gym class.
‘Best buddies’ go viral with prom proposal
SEXUAL ASSAULT INCIDENT
BALL STATE
UPD/MPD
A sexual assault occurs and is reported to a Ball State employee who then has to report it to the university.
Victim calls either department and an initial uniform officer goes to the scene.
Step 1
Step 1
Step 2
Step 2
Title IX Coordinator for Student Affairs, Katie Slabaugh, takes the information and submits it to Mike Gillilan, director of student rights and community standards
The officer does an initial case report and encourages the victim to go to a hospital for a rape study kit. Designated nurses collect the forensic evidence they need.
Step 3
Step 3
The student can choose to stop at the initial reporting or continue on with the university investigation.
Step 6 Otherwise, cases go to the university sexual misconduct board where they hear both sides to make a decision.
Step 7 The board can only decide if there was a sexual misconduct policy violation or not. Punishments include anything from disciplinary probation to expulsion.
Two students at Eastern High School in Kentucky couldn’t be more different. Some may have been surprised when senior bas- ONLINE ketball star Trey Moses asked freshman Ellie Mer- To see social media reactions to the edith, who has Down synprom proposal, go to drome, to prom. ballstatedaily.com “It just makes us closer as friends and everything,” Moses said. “We text, ... we talk outside of school, and we’ll start hanging out more.” When Moses and Meredith first met, they were both shy and didn’t say much.
Step 4
The detective does a one-on-one interview with the victim, who can choose the date of the interview. The detective interviews the accused and any witnesses.
Step 5 If the student and the accused agree, they can choose to deal with the case informally. Gillilan will decide the punishment himself.
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JAKE FOX SPORTS EDITOR @fakejox3
The officer notifies a detective, who does the follow-up investigation after the initial report is taken.
Step 4 If the student chooses to move forward with the university process, Gillilan and Slabaugh review the evidence.
Basketball recruit asks friend with Down syndrome to dance
Step 5 If the accused’s DNA is found in the rape kit, the detective uses the evidence to show that physical contact occurred. The detective might choose to do further investigations if the two stories don’t match.
See PROM, page 5
UNIVERSITY TO INSTALL PIPING ON RIVERSIDE
Step 6
The detective compiles evidence and statements and sends it to a prosecutor.
Step 7
Rape is considered a level 3 felony, which can result in prison time.
Geothermal project will continue in 4 phases from May to August ROSE SKELLY CHIEF REPORTER | rmskelly@bsu.edu
SOURCES: Katie Slabaugh, Mike Gillilan, Jim Duckham, UPD police chief, Joan Todd, university spokesperson and Amy Kesler, MPD investigator
BASEBALL
SERIES WIN LEAVES TEAM 1ST IN MAC Cardinals beat Akron after breaking tie in bottom of 7th inning SEE ON BALLSTATEDAILY.COM
1. CLOUDY
2. MOSTLY CLOUDY
3. PARTLY CLOUDY
4. MOSTLY SUNNY
The university will tear up and redo Riverside Avenue this summer as they install new geothermal piping. The construction will take place GEOTHERMAL from May 3 to Aug. 7, and is seg- AT BALL STATE mented into four phases: from See a map of the 5. SUNNY Emens Drive to Martin Street, project’s impact Martin Street to Dill Street, Dill on campus Street to Dicks Street and Dicks + PAGE 3 Street to DeHority Drive. The installation of the pipes requires tearing up those 10. DRIZZLE sections of Riverside Avenue, which will be redone after the placing of the pipes is complete. Jim Lowe, Director of Engineering Construction and Operations, said the condition of the street will be “much improved,” and that the construction was planned during a time that would create the least amount of traffic and problems for the university. THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
6. RAIN
7. PERIODS OF RAIN
9. SCATTERED SHOWERS
Student tries to ‘prove everybody wrong’ by auditioning for role SEE PAGE 4
11. SNOW FLURRIES
THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
12. SCATTERED FLURRIES
13. SNOW SHOWERS
See RIVERSIDE, page 3 THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
15. HEAVY SNOW
THE U.S. DECLARED WAR ON GERMANY 98 YEARS AGO.
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TWEET US
Receive news updates on your phone for free by following @bsudailynews on Twitter. 19. RAIN/SNOW MIX
17. FREEZING RAIN
16. SLEET
FORECAST TODAY
Scattered thunderstorms
High: 61 Low: 52 20. THUNDERSTORMS
VOL. 94, ISSUE 108
18. WINTRY MIX
Partly cloudy skies this morning, with showers and isolated thunderstorms moving in this afternoon. -Samantha Garrett, WCRD weather forecaster
21. SCATTERED THUNDERSTORMS
THE PULSE OF BALL STATE
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